1st 440 assembly

[mopower04]

ok guys its time! got all the goodies to put the bottom end in my 440! now before i go digging in got a few questions and looking for any little pointers or hints.

now i had the rotating assembly balanced, rods, crank, balancer, pistons, rings, flexplate, bearings, ya know the whole deal.....now when i go to assemble the rods to the pistons (full floating) i have a spec sheet with the weight of the rods caps to beam thing...should i go with any pirticular order as to what cylinder to put the rod/piston combos in? right now they are all in their seperate boxes that they were shipped to me in......

so i've got the pistons, rings, bearings, rods, gasket set, crank, balancer, timing set, cam, lifters, t.cover, oil pump...anything else i may need before i throw in the bottom end? after that will come the eddy heads, intake, headers, carb, ign. system, and oil pan and pickup...... any stuff i'm missing?? obvious stuff??


thanks guys, wish me luck!!!

[valiant64]

Windage tray, main bolts or studs.

[crisser]

No particular order. They did mark or number the pistons as to where they go?
Might want to check ring gaps before you "throw it in".

[GЯEENHORNET]

now i had the rotating assembly balanced, rods, crank, balancer, pistons, rings, flexplate, bearings, ya know the whole deal.....now when i go to assemble the rods to the pistons (full floating) i have a spec sheet with the weight of the rods caps to beam thing...should i go with any pirticular order as to what cylinder to put the rod/piston combos in? right now they are all in their seperate boxes that they were shipped to me in......

Details make all the difference. I would deburr the corner of the thrust bearing in the center of the block to remove any iregularities. Otherwise the thrust bearing might not seat properly, and cause wear.

At the seal retainer, the neoprene/rope rear main seal protrudes slightly. Don't cut off this extra piece. The excess crushes the seal together to prevent any gaps or leaks.

Before installing the crankshaft, apply engine oil to all the bearing surfaces. Don't use white lithium grease, because it can clog the filter.

Once the crankshaft is in place, tap the counterweights gently to seat it on the bearings.

Use a Plastiguage to check the clearance. After placing a small thread of wax on the bearing surface, torque the cap to see how much it spreads under pressure. Then measure the crush width. Ideally it should be 2 to 3 thousandths.

Here's a simple but really essential step: Set the thrust bearing by tapping GENTLY on each end of the crankshaft.

Check endplay with a pair of screwdrivers and dial indicator—.006 inches is ideal. Also, spin the crankshaft by hand. It should spin smoothly and easily, with no drag.

Do all this and your crankshaft will live a long and happy life.

When Installing the piston/rod combo in the bores, make sure the pistons and rods are in there proper cylinder (they should be marked/stamped).

Use some half inch tubing over the rod bolts to prevent scratching the cylinder bores.

Add oil to the bolt heads before bolting on the connecting rods. This makes it easier to torque them and check the crush, which should be about .003 inches for a performance engine. Don't use an air wrench either. A manual speed wrench prevents binding on the cap, and lets you "sneak up" to the correct torque setting.

Good Luc

[owatajrkiam]

Keep a sheet of paper with a plan handy,and check everything off as you go along,....then DOUBLE check it when you get to the end of the list! I mark the bottoms of the connecting rods with a sharpie after i have checked clearances,made sure bearing chamfers are correct,torque specs are in,etc. then i don't second guess myself!. Clean the floor well,as dust kicked up,WILL cling to those oil and assembly lubed part's......like Mikey Jackson clings to Boy Scout's...........

Glen

[mopower04]

ok so i looked at all my rods and pistons, even my recipt from the shop that did my work.....says rods, pistons, balancer, flexplate balance... is whats written on it...however my pistons have no markings on them from factory or the shop saying what cylinder or rod to put them with and i have nothing on paper either.... the rods, still in their packages have a slip with them with the control numbe for each so cap and rod dont get mixed up, the weight of each end of the rod and they are listed 1-8 on the paper....i'm assuming i sould go with that to what cylinder to put them in but i still dont know if it matters what pistons goes with what one and what cylinder they go in?????? kinda hopin i didnt get screwed on my balance job?? can they do some different types of balancing? like just the crank and then like the the rods and pistons and stuff all seperate to just get them the same weight or some crap?? i dunno but it sure doesnt seem like they put any pistons on rods and crank to balance anything.......

[GЯEENHORNET]

Rods will have a deep chamfer on the side that sits against the cheek ofthe crank journal.
The pistons should have a "dot" or arrow indicating "towards the front".
there is a "thrust" side on the pistons which means the oddside pistons shouldn't be put in the even side
cylinders. are you positive the shop never marked the pistons 1-8???
i'll try and post some pics for you.

[owatajrkiam]

The machine shop would have taken the lightest piston,and made that the benchmark,...my pistons weighed 508 grams,so if one came in at 510,they would remove 2 grams from a non-critical area,...same goes for the rods! They calculate the bobweights,then do any adjustments on the crank! So the order should not matter! I would consult you're machinist if you unshure of anything!

Glen

[Dave 572]

Holy crap,I'll be typing for days...

Need more info.And you won't need luck if you do things correctly and pay attention to details.

Do you have all the correct tools,lubes,etc. for proper assembly(I'm sorry GH, but plastigage isn't a tool) or are you just gonna wing it.
A very clean space to lay out and assemble?
Has the block been cleaned,all passages brushed/power washed out,all threads bottom-tapped/chased,lifter bores honed?
To what extent has the crank been checked? Out of round,taper are pretty important.
Have the rod bolts been torqued and big ends corrected if necessary? Even new budget rods and esp. used ones need this done.Edit in:Assuming you recondition the stock rods and use new bolts.

There's a lot of work that the machine shop has to do correctly before you can start.As said...details,details details.

[GЯEENHORNET]

Originally Posted by owatajrkiam

The machine shop would have taken the lightest piston,and made that the benchmark,...my pistons weighed 508 grams,so if one came in at 510,they would remove 2 grams from a non-critical area,...same goes for the rods! They calculate the bobweights,then do any adjustments on the crank! So the order should not matter! I would consult you're machinist if you unshure of anything!

Glen

wow!.. the order dosn't matter ?!?!? when i had my stuff done at Competition Engine, believe me.. it matters what each piston/rod combo went. theres about 10000 ways you can screw it up, not to mention throwing the balancing WAY off.

[owatajrkiam]

Let me correct myself,...of course it matters that the pistons,rods,etc,...go in the correct order,but what i'm saying is,i would,nt sweat it,if you grabbed the #8 rod out of the box or #3,as long as the large chamfered side of the rod is facing the outwards side,and not,inside ,..rod to rod!.. Same goes with the pistons,...most stock pistons have a marking that goes to the front and should be aligned in that order as stock pistons have an offset,or as in the case of my Diamond pistons,there were no markings,but i could tell,as the number 4 and 6 pistons will be exhaust valve (Smaller) to exhaust valve,...with the exhaust valve side facing outwards on #2 and #8 holes!.I can do this with my eyes closed,but telling someone to do it,i may have a hard time coveying it in print,..sorry!. Back to the balancing,...i'm sure that a balance job for the street is less involved than saying you are balancing it for evey last ounce of HP! say in a Stock eliminator class as they would spend hrs trying to get the big end and the small end of the rod to be perfect in wt.etc. I'm pretty sure when most people bring their engines for a balance job,they are not getting the same time and care that an NHRA record holder is gonna get,and if you do,you WILL pay for it! I got mine done at Millar Racing engines in Winkler,Man. and it was $350 and my pistons were not marked for which order they went! As long as i put them in correctly (which i did),everything should be fine! Although i am not a machinist,i do trust mine and if i ever have a question,i can pick up the phone and talk to Dave Millar himself and not a floor sweeper who works in the shop!. (Mopwer04) what did you're machinist say? I would call him just for you're piece of mind,beacause when you talk to 10 people you WILL get 20 different answers!!!

Glen

[aarracer]

The oiling hole in the rod big end should face the opposite bank to oil the opposite cylinder. If your ring sets are not marked for corresponding cylinder, then they probably have not been fit yet. If the balance job is correct, it does not matter which hole the rods and pistons go in. I usually only send a spec sheet (rod & piston weights ( I balance my own to 0.2gr))with my cranks to the machine shop. The other posts are also good! You should spin the crank after each bearing is finish torqued (mains and rods)to check for tension. Clean the block (with high pressure solvent flush), and when you think it is clean, DO IT AGAIN !!!

Cheers

AARRACER

[GЯEENHORNET]

perhaps i'm a bit anal when putting my engines together, but i hand fit and do the final honing with each individial piston for a particular cylinder. i like my tollerances exact.
i feel thats the best way to make a street engine live a LONG and HAPPY life.
DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS.

but i also agree, some very good posts here.

[Dave 572]

It's quite an undertaking try to post everything that needs to be done.There are also quite a few assumptions we have to make regarding the builder's planning for this combo and how serious/strict he wants to get.

Is this a stock type rebuild using factory(a little on the loose side) tolerances?
Is this a stock rotating assembly or stroker.
Is this a quench motor?
Was the block height checked and corrected/squared?
Piston type and brand has a lot to do with the need to select hone the bores.For example:Cheap Summit hyper. pistons will have to mic'd and if different from one another,will need to be assigned to certain bores.Forged Diamond,CP etc.likely won't need this done.Although I check them anyway to confirm.

Anyway,I could go on and on...

[bobr]

Make sure all of the plugs have been installed correctly in the block. Make sure your distributor gear bushing is not too tight. Make sure your piston valve reliefs(if any) correspond to the correct valves in the head. Check the cam bearing that oils the valvetrain to see that the hole in the bearing is correctly oriented to the hole in the block.

[aarracer]

Buy the Book "How to Rebuild the Big Block Mopar"!!!!!!!!!!

[bobr]

Originally Posted by aarracer

Buy the Book "How to Rebuild the Big Block Mopar"!!!!!!!!!!

Best advice yet. This will give you something that you can always refer to. -Bob

[440Ramcharger]

Pics, we want pics!

[mopower04]

well guys, with the info i've gathered here and from a few people i've spoke with here at home i think weve got this figured out!! damn this is gonna be fun!!! thanks to all of you for tips and what to look out for's. should make this build very smooth and the outcome i'm looking for!! I will keep you posted, and yes i am taking pictures!